What is a Virtual Photo Session?
Working with and around people during a pandemic can be really challenging, but it can also fuel our creativity and help us find new ways of facing the obstacles in front of us. And that's how the virtual photo session was created!
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So, how does it work?
We make a video call, and I will walk you through the best lighting and styling the space, camera angles and what to have in frame. It’s like I’m the photographer and you are my assistant. When we’re happy with what we got, you switch to the camera app and take the shot.
After our session, I will provide you with a link where you will upload all the photos from your phone. All of them will go through color correction, some clean up and small retouching where I see fit. You will receive them all a couple of days later.
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Here are more details about it:
What equipment do I need for our virtual photo session?
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A smartphone is essential. It doesn’t have to be the latest model, but a good camera is important so that the photos have higher resolution/quality.
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If possible, download the Lightroom Mobile app (free) so we can take photos in RAW (instead of the usual JPG extension). This kind of file provides higher quality images that are better for editing.
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A tripod or something to hold your phone in place if there is no one that will be taking the photo but will not be in any of them. In other words: if my “assistant” will be a “model” too in any photo, we’ll need the phone to stand by itself somehow. Books or even shoes usually do the trick. We can get very creative here.
There will be only myself at home, will this kind of session work for me?
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Yes! But in this case, I strongly recommend having a tripod. It will help us get different angles and more variety without spending a lot of time trying to make the phone stay put on top of a pile of books. But if you can’t get a tripod, we can still make it work. ;)
When will I get my final photos?
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It usually takes me a couple of days to edit all of the photos from each session. I will let you know in our pre-session call if this timing may be different.
My space is too small, it won’t work...
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There’s no such thing as a small space for our photos, we can make it work even if there’s only one spot in your place to be used as our “stage”. We can have different angles, close-ups and interesting compositions, and your photos will be just beautiful!
Can I have my photos taken outdoors?
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Of course! We will figure out the best time of day so we have the best lighting possible, and it will be just fine. In this case I would strongly recommend a tripod or something you can bring with you to hold the phone in position.
Can I print all photos?
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Yes, you can. However, the size of the prints will depend on the resolution/quality of the files. Newer smartphones, better cameras and RAW files will allow you to print larger formats. When you receive your final photos, I will tell you how large they can be printed with the best possible resolution/quality. By the way, we will be using the back camera on your phone, as it has much better quality than the front-facing ‘selfie’ camera.
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What is included in this virtual photo session?
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15 min. video call prior to our session so you can show me the location and outfits, and we can discuss your expectations and preferences. Because we won’t have any photography lighting equipment available, I need to understand what the natural lighting looks like so we can identify the best spots for our photos. This pre-session call is very important because it will save us some time during the session. We can plan the spots and posing in advance instead of having to move around and test shots in the middle of our session. The faster we take good shots, the more photos you will have in the end.
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1-hour actual photo session.
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Edited photos. All of them. So, if we take 30 photos during that 1-hour session, you will get all 30.
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Click here for some of the photos from my virtual sessions.
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